Doris Stensland received the 2012 Individual Governor’s Award for History from the South Dakota State Historical Society on April 14, 2012. This Individual Award recognized her for her work in describing southeastern South Dakota’s history through a variety of sources, including three historical novels.
Doris’ award was chosen based on
- Her description of the pioneer life of her great-grandparents who homesteaded in southeastern South Dakota in the 1870s in the book, “Haul the Water”, “Haul the Wood. A sequel”, “Ole’s Promise”, describes the life of her grandparents, while “Music Man from Norway”, describes the life of Norwegian musician Andrew Indseth who brought music to South Dakota prairies.
- Her contribution to first chapter, “Life in the New Land – the Scandinavian Experience (1859-1889)”, in “Prairie Faith, Pioneering People”, edited by Donald Sneen. The book describes the history of the Lutheran church in South Dakota and is dedicated to the Lutheran pioneers
- Weekly newspaper column she wrote in late 1960s describing farm life “Country Style: Living the Farm Life”.
- Text she wrote for Joel Strasser’s pictorial book, “Love of the Land” reflecting family farming and rural life in South Dakota.
- Her cookbook “Vaer saa god: Come and Eat”. The first section is “Growing Up Foods”, which describes farm life and foods during the Depression/1930s and after, such as making bread, jam, including feeding threshers.
More information on the Governor’s Awards for History can be found through the South Dakota State Historical Society website.
In May, 2011 Doris Stensland received a Certificate of Recognition from the South Dakota State Historical Society Board of Trustees for her work to preserve history for future generations with her book “Haul the Water, Haul the Wood”.